The Spirit Within
by Toa Artfull
Summary: Once on a cold winter's night, a girl was found freezing, by a passing traveler…
1. Chapter 1: Snowy Beginnings

Author's Notes: Thanks for taking the time to read my story. This is my first time writing a piece of FanFicion, so all Reviews, and criticisms are welcome, and enjoy the story. Oh and boring disclaimer below.

Disclaimer: All Disney characters belong to Disney; all Original Characters belong to me. This FanFic was made for purely for entertainment, no copying intended.

Chapter 1 Snowy Beginnings

In the hollow of the woods, the lonely cry of a single wolf could be heard echoing under a full moon, bringing a pale shimmering light down just barely illuminating the falling snow making a faint glow all around. Thus the cold bitter night of winter was made almost enjoyable with the sheer beauty of the snow that fell. As the sound of the cry dissipated into a quiet hush, a new sound could be heard to replace it. The muffled sound of crunching snow could be heard as a lone traveler walked in this seemly endless wood, with a heavy sigh the traveler looked around taking in the pale white glow of the snow. Just as the traveler gets ready to move on again, the traveler spots bit of color that blatantly contrasts the pale white of the snow. Walking closer to the offending color the traveler notes that it is a piece of clothing; gently the traveler brushes the snow from the clothing. The traveler then found the owner of said piece of clothing. The owner was gently buried under a fine layer of snow; with a heavy sigh the traveler completely uncover the person. Noting the dark red jacket and matching snow pants, as well as some of the person's fiery red hair just barely visible as it was cover mostly by the hood of the jacket. Upon further inspection, the person was revealed to be a girl. 'What is she doing out here? Is she not freezing out here?' the traveler thought. Placing a hand on the girl's cheek, the traveler soon realized that the girl was in fact freezing. Carefully lifting the girl up from the snow, the traveler continues to walk further into the wood, as the faint sound the cry could be heard again.

With a heavy sigh mildly echoing in the small hobble of a home, the fire was being stirred by the traveler thus increasing its intensity, as the traveler placed another piece of fire wood to the flame the traveler looked over their shoulder seeing the girl still fast asleep. Seeing the chest of the girl slowly rise and fall, the traveler placed their hand to her cheek again. "At least she is warmer and visibly breathing now…" sighing heavily again. The traveler continued to quietly mutter "What where you doing out in the woods anyways? Did lose you way, and start to freeze, or were you being chased…?" As the traveler trailed of in their thoughts, they noticed the girl stir a bit in her sleep, as if she was going to wake soon. With a look of concern the traveler, moved to the next room thinking it would be a good time to make some food, and see if the girl was able enough to eat.

With a heavy yawn the girl slowly wakes, with hazy vision she looks around trying to figure out where she is. She notes that she is coved with a thick wool blanket, and her snow gear is near the fire that was burning. Still looking around she notes the room she was in; it seemed to be of a decent size, but the shabby look of the few pieces of furniture that were in the room, displeased her some. A quiet look of disgust appeared on her face when she spotted what appeared to be a blood stain on the cloth covering the disheveled table. 'Oh, of course I can't say the room looks awful" The girl mused mentally to herself 'but still you would think how ever lived here would keep it cleaner…?' Just as the girl finished her thought a harsh voice came from behind her. "I'm sorry my home in not to your acquired tastes, Girl…." In complete shock the girl quickly turned around to face the traveler stammering out a hush apology. A light chuckle comes from the traveler "It's nothing to apologize over, I know perfectly well how much of a hobble my home is, I just never expected guesses, is all".

With that the girl looked at the traveler with more of a serious expression, "And If, I may ask who, are you?" With a faint grin the traveler walks to the next room again, with protest from the girl, because her question was not answered, as the traveler enters the room again, but this time holding a plate with a small sandwich with a good bit of meat on it, and a glass of water to help it down with. The girl staring hard at the traveler, and they pass the food to her.

"Thank you, but you…" The girl was interrupted, when the traveler spoke over her "Is it not rude to ask for a name before giving your own" The faint grin on the traveler's face again "But if you insist so, you may call me….. Luspiro" The girl just looked at the traveler with a bit of confusion, "Oh right sorry…. my name is Kim" She says with a small smile on her face. "So… um….Lu...spir...o…Luspiro" the girl manages to spit out "Why…" Luspiro looking down at the forgotten plate of food interrupters the girl again "Eat… it will help to get your strength back" with that the traveler walks out of the room again for the third time, leaving the girl still with the wool blanket over her, with a plate of food, a glass of water, and a confused look on her face.

Meanwhile, in the woods the snow was still falling down, but now the eerie white glow replaced with a low red, and many shades of pink, as some hooded figures walked thru the thick wood.

"Damm it, where is she, I mean she couldn't of gotten that far…." one of the figures grumbles, with the distinct green and black jacket, with what appeared to be a jumpsuit underneath it.

One of the figures behind the green n' black one, with thick cargo pants, a heavy jacket, and what appeared to be a small pink rodent in their lower pants pocket manages to stammers out. "Um, Shego, I'm sure Kim is fine…. I mean it's not like she would…. die on us…right?" With that the green n' black one whipped around, and grabbed the stammering figure with one their clawed hands "Don't you ever fucking say something like that again, Stoppable, or I swear I'll…." "You'll do what?" Says a third figure in a defiant tone, this one wearing all black, with the questioned posed the figure known as Shego drops the figure know as Stoppable with a low growl. The figure in black walks over to the one known as Stoppable and asks "Are you ok, Ron-kun?"

"Ya…I'm fine…" Ron squeaked out, and with a heavy sigh he picks himself up. "You know saying something like that to Shego would have upset her…right?" The figure clad in black states. The one now known as Ron looks at the one clad in black and replies with a small sense of dread in his voice. "I know, Yori, I know... it's just…we can't find her…Kim always has her Kimmunactor with her, and most of the gadgets she has too… and most of them have some sort of tracking device in them…..but…but…**it's like she is gone**…just 'poof', Wade said one minute she on the map the next she is not…. I just...I just don't know…I know it's not like she would die… she…she can't, but still….." Yori nods "Don't worry Ron-kun I know we will find her" Yori says trying to cheer Ron, up just a little, for she knows just as well, how much the sudden disappeared of Kim has affected everyone, she is too. Like Run-kun said, it is not like her to just disappear, but what worries her the most is the fact that Kim's sudden disappearance seems so much like the stories she was told when she was younger. "Oh, I hope, it is not case…" she comments mentally to herself, as Ron, and herself caught up with Shego again.


	2. Chapter 2: Quiet Town

Author's Notes: Thanks for taking the time to read my story, enjoy.

Disclaimer: All Disney characters belong to Disney; all Original Characters belong to me. This FanFic was made for purely for entertainment, no copying intended.

Chapter 2 Quiet town

With a growl of frustration in the mixed, with the sound breaking ceramics, it echoes quite nicely thru the small tavern Shego currently sits at, as many of the townsfolk quietly stare at the pale woman, whose previous actions just smashed a helpless beer mug. One of the more courageous, out of the small crowd, nervously asks the pale woman "Are…Are you ok Ma'am?" Begrudgingly the pale woman got up from her seat, giving the man who just asked her a question a hard stare, then placing a few bills on the counter. She mutters a quiet apology for the mug before leavening the tavern. The small group of people now left in the tavern gives the courageous fellow a round of congratulations, before they continue their merry games they were in, before the pale woman came in.

Shego quietly exits the tavern, hearing the merry sounds of the townsfolk inside "Assholes…." She mutters before walking down the main street of the town. The town itself being of small is size; in fact the main street being is the only street, it looking something similar to towns you would see in the Old West. To the one side of the town is the woods, Shego was in earlier that day, while on the other opens up to a large lake which you could just see more of the woods across it. In fact the lake was large enough, and populated enough for there to be a dock or two, in the town for fishing, so with woods, filled with animals, and a lake full a fish, it was easy to see why the people in this town where so care free. They had everything they needed food, warmth, and safety. Oh, course this knowledge had not dawned on her yet, even if it did, it would have not improve her mood, in fact it would of made it worst, because then she would take her, anger out on some of the unsuspecting townsfolk. How dare they be happy when she is in such a foul mood!

Is what she would think but the knowledge had not dawned, and instead she saw a loud mouthed freckled-blond instead to take her anger out on. With amazing skill, if there was anyone to watch her they would have seen Shego seemingly vanish. Shego, crouched for a moment making sure she was completely hidden before she moved again, as she quietly got as close as she could to the unsuspecting blond, before stopping to see what exactly he was doing, with one of girls from the town.

"So where are you from?" Says a girl from town, with long brown hair, who was playing with her hair

"Oh… I'm from Middleton" Says the freckled-blond, as he inhales more food, that the girl gave him.

"Oh… that's nice…and are all the guys from 'Middleton'… as cute as you?" Says the brunette with a coy smile as she moves a little closer to the boy.

With that the blond choked on the food he was eating for a moment before trying to reply, the raven haired woman in the shadows couldn't help but grin evilly 'oh, it was far too easy to pick on the fool' she thought to herself. As she got out from her hiding stop and slowly walking quietly over to where the blond, and the brunette stood.

"Ah….Ah…Ah, that's... that's very...I…um" The brunette interrupts him before he can stammer on "Nice...?" She offers him as an answerer "Right…nice, but…" the girl quiets the stammer boy with one finger before lightly kissing him "and I think you're nice too…" The brunette purrs out.

At this point it became too much, she had to comment, "Didn't know you had it in you, Stoppable… to cheat on your girlfriend like that…" Shego says with a wild grin on her face, waiting for his, response. "AH!" He shouts as he pushes the brunette away, quickly stammering out "She...Shego, don't tell her… I didn't do anything"

"Ya you didn't do a thing, you just let a random girl kiss you" Shego smirks, as the brunette complains that she is not some random girl, and she has a name, but she is quickly chased away by a flaming hand. "So… Stoppable, talking about the ninja where is she?"

"Why would you want to know…" He question was cut off, by the raven haired woman

"I'm not going to tell, on you for something that clearly didn't happen, but you do need to learn to say no... Seriously just letting a girl's complements, get to you then letting her kiss you… Are you moron?... wait don't answer that, you are"

"Hey that's…"

Shego glares hard at him "Or I could tell her…"

Ron gulps audibly "She is in the town hall, apparently that's where the library is too, Yori, says she had to look into some of the town's legends…"

"Why would she what to know stupid old stories about the middle of nowhere town?"

"I don't know, that's why I left her to do her own thing, I wasn't going to sit in a boring library all day…"

"No instead you where just going to hit on some of the towns girls"

"Hey, I was not…"

"I was kidding, you serially can't take a fucking joke can you…"

With that the raven haired woman looked around seeing if she could spot the town hall from where she was standing.

"Do you know where the town hall is or you forget already, because of that kiss" She says with a grin

"Just drop it and its down more the main street, you can't see it from here" He says sighing, he places the bit a food left he has in his lower, pants pocket, muttering a few words, to the pocket, before walking towards town hall. "Come on its this way"

"Oh, don't be so exited on my behalf" Shego grins as she follows Ron to the town hall.


	3. Chapter 3: The Girl

Chapter 3 The Girl…

"Yori… you in here?" asks Ron, in the basement of the town hall, with only a few books shelves down there it wouldn't be hard to find her. Ron just wanted to announce being there before he got to her, he was polite like that.

"Over here, Ron-kun" Quietly says the ninja, she was in the corner of the basement where a large desk was, there were many books sprawled out over it. Indicating she was here for a while now.

"How goes the research…?" Ron, asks as he walks over where Yori sat.

With a heavy sigh the ninja puts down the book she was reading, and looks up at the blond with pleading eyes, as if to ask for forgiveness, before saying in a low tone. "I'm sorry, Ron-kun, I didn't find what I was looking for…"

Ron was about to say that it was 'ok', but…

"What, the hell do you mean by "I'm sorry… I didn't find what I was looking for", you spent almost an entire fucking day, in a bloody fucking library when we could still be in the woods looking for Kim…" yelled the pale woman that was behind Ron.

"So you better, have fucking something or…"

"SHEGO..." Ron said in harsh tone, that surprised both Yori, and Shego, Ron turned around, to give her a hard stare, and continued to cut her off before she could finish, "How about we just let Yori tell us what she found, maybe it actually is something important, she just didn't catch it the first time through"

A little stunned by Ron's sudden change in demeanor, the pale woman, quietly agrees...

Turning back to the ninja the blond continues "OK...so what do you have Yori?" He asks optimistically.

Stunned for a moment, she smiles warmly at the blond, before speaking, "Well, I had gone over some of the towns legends, and…"

"Why the fuck would you need to do that?" Shego asks bitterly

Coughing lightly before continuing "That is because… Kim's disappearance is so similar to legends that were told to me of being kamikakushi…"

"Well, care to explain what you mean by that…." The pale woman growls out.

Sighing nervously "Well kamikakushi means spirited away, or to remove without anyone's notice"

"We noticed her missing how, is that the connection" Shego says bitterly

"No, Shego I mean, that we notice Kim is gone yes, but there is no trace where she went, yes?"

"So…your point?"

"But that's it Shego, there was no trace, we found no footprints, and even with the last know location of Kim… She was not buried under the snow, or anything, like Ron said it's 'like she is gone', without a single clue to as where she is."

Yori getting up from where she was siting for the past few hours she stretched a little before, looking at Shego with a sad look in her eyes.

"If my hunch was correct, I don't know how we are to get Kim back…."

"What the hell, are you talking about Yori…?"

"Kamikakushi, taken by spirits that is what I'm saying…."

With disbelief the pale woman stares at the ninja clad in black "You can't be fucking serious…"

With the huff Shego continues "No… you might just be even more of a moron that Ron, over there"

"Hey that's..."

"Shut it Ron …fucking serious taken by spirits, hell no, she is just missing"

"Shego there was a reason I was looking through the town's legends…"

"Ya you 'had a reason', you wasted fucking valuable time is all doing it, we could have been looking in the woods for Kim" Shego stared hard at Yori "And that's what I'm going to fucking do, go waste your time in some library, but I'm finding Kim got that…." With an angry sneer on her face as the pale woman exited the small basement with a huff.

"That went better than I expected…" Ron chimed in, "Un, uh" the pink rodent, Rufus, from within the blond's pocket also chimed.

"But, Ron-Kun…" Yori protested

"No seriously I only just managed to convince to come, and that was because she was in a better mood after picking on me" says the blond calmly

"Oh, really, why was she picking on..."

"So any way what about this legend…?" continues the blond, cutting into the ninja's question, as he picks up a book and stares at it.

Shaking her head some, she clears her throat as she starts "So, there is a legend in this town that could help explained what could of happened" she said as she grabs one of the books that was on the desk from before.

"Could of, so no definites yet, hmm…" continuing to stare at the book.

"Ron-Kun, are you even reading that book?"

"Nope…" He says with a goofy grin on his face

With a light chuckle, Yori flips a few pages in the book she is holding till she lands on the page needed, before continuing "Ok so there is a local legend... is this town about…" She pauses for a moment seeing the blond looking at the book upside down, shaking her head; she takes away the book from him.

"Hey I was reading that…" he protests

"No you where not, now I'm going to explain this legend and you are to listen, ok?"

"Ya…" The blond sighs before he finds a spot to sit down at, Yori, follows right after him, sitting right next to him before starting up again.

"Ok so the legend is about the disappearance of a girl over three hundred years ago…"

Sounds of sticks breaking, panting, and labored breathing from herself was all that the girl could hear as she rushed out of the woods and into a small clearing with a large lake directly in front of her. The girl looked quickly around, spotting a small boat she quickly set to launching it onto the lake, just as she got a few feet from the shore; a group of figures came into the clearing. They stared hard at the girl for a moment before, a few of them cursing, most of them turned and walked back into the woods, mumbling something to the effect of, 'Let the spirits judge, her'.

With a heavy sigh of relief the girl relaxes for a moment, before looking at the woods across the lake she was now headed to. She had never been this far in the woods, before, let alone to the part she was head for, and what did the they mean by 'let the spirits judge, her'.

"Who cares..." The girl mumbles softly to herself "I did nothing wrong… I only just wanted…"

The girl looked back at the shore she launched from, a few figures still stood there, glaring at her "Besides, what is the problem in wanting to do what you want… I never asked to be…" she sighs, and turns "I don't want my life planed out for me… " She trails off, as she lays down in the boat, the girl looks up at the moon high in the night sky. "I would say it's a beautiful, but…" Sitting up for a moment looking at the shore "…I don't have that luxury right now…"

Sometime later the girl was across the lake, she was unable to even see the outline of the shore let alone the outline of figures that chased her. 'Good', the girl thought landing the boat on the shore before she turned around. The girl stared hard at the woods, wondering what could possibly be in it to make the figures that were chasing to stop. 'It's just the woods it can be that dangerous' thought the girl. Then the sound of a twig snapping got her attention. She quickly looked around for where the sound originated from, and saw one of the figures, who were chasing her, and all it took was one time for the figure lock in eye contact with her before, the girl was in a dead sprint again.


End file.
